Balancing Deen and Dunya

Most of us go through life thinking we have achieved the balance that we should be trying to achieve as Muslims (referring to balance as in between Dunya and Deen), but have we really?

One of the many random pillowtalk conversations with my mum a few weeks back had me asking myself, was I really balancing my life out? Did I really do as much to learn loving my faith as much as I have been doing for my education?

The system we were brought up in (well, at least for most of my generation), is that we spend most of the hours in our day studying about Chemistry, Mathematics etc. And then after, we play sports in the evening, and continue doing homework later on at night. And we'd probably have an hour or two of Islamic Studies classes every other day which most of us end up complaining about..... And we go on to college and university thinking that, "hey, we've made it through school and well, I've passed PAFA and scored A for my Islamic Studies. So, I should be alright" Then it got to me, we could've done better than that, we could've found a better "balance". I could've learnt more about my religion, and how it really relates to our every day life

How great it'd be like if every single activity and subject (or basically just most of the things we do), we relate to Islam. 

As simple as for instance, just telling facts like Ibn Muadh al-Jayyani attributed one of the law of sines; 

(Which was a formula we all referred throughout our whole highschool)

Or even, learnt sports that the Prophet did as Sunnah as part of our curricular activity such as Archery which is proven to increase our strength and focus that can benefit us in so many ways nowadays (especially given the fact that I get distracted so easily heh)

And those were just merely examples...There's so much more to that
But my point is,

Could we have achieved a better "balance"? More intergrated Islamic-ally? Could we have been more inspired by these other great Muslim Leaders?



Came across this though,
http://productivemuslim.com/is-dunya-haram-for-us-heres-how-to-balance-deen-and-dunya/

The 3 Most Important Things To Hold By In Life

It's been about 2 weeks since I received one of the most important advice I've gotten from my boss while I was in my internship.

He told me, the three main things that you need to hold on to in everything you do is 'Perseverance', 'Trust' and 'Determination'. I've heard many successful stories of entrepreneur and leaders, but my boss wasn't kidding when he mentioned those three important words to hold on to. 

As I sat down for more than an hour listening to his advice, he gave a few examples of a few successful people in the world, but the one story that really caught my attention was how determined Vincent Tan was in his approach towards bringing McDonald's into Malaysia, how he wrote emails everyday for more than a year to McDonalds with his proposal and idea to them, back in the 1990s. 

"Only when there is perseverance can you achieve the impossible. Combined with determination, you'll get the focus you need to achieve what you really want. And gain trust. Getting others to trust your capabilities by proving yourself worth. But not only gain trust from others, but to yourself, believing that you'll pull through and you are capable of doing so."

So here's to being more determined, having more trust, and pulling through everything with more perseverance :)

It's Not Just Another Internship

Some people might say, you'll have your whole life to work. Once you start working, you can never stop. The time will come. What do you even want from an internship anyways? They don't really pay you that well anyways. On the other hand, there'll be those people who are just naturally workaholic. Some might be doing internships just to boost their CVs. Well, everyone has their own reasons in making their own choice, either to do or not to do an internship.

My decision to proceed with an internship for 6 weeks wasn't planned months ago, it came along the way throughout my Summer holidays. It was when my cousin convinced me into applying at ZulRafique & Partners. Alhamdulillah, being accepted as an intern there, I could say, it's one of the best decisions I've made in my life (well, so far hehe). But why so ?

Beyond networking, you'll get great advice from others who has been in the legal field for a way longer time. Partners, legal associates or even the other chambies would probably give you a heads up on what you should expect in your career, what you should do to make yourself more prepared into the working life, and the most important part, is when they tell you the things they wished they had done or did not do to get them to how they are today. These advice that they give might be considered as a 'shortcut' to success in life or a 'cheat' for those who implement them I guess ;)

Then, the working life experience comes. You usually would get real working life experience if you've interned for a month at least. The longer the time of your intern, the more colleagues/seniors would be able to give more work to you, the more they trust you and the cycle of getting more work continues ! Beyond that, working 9-5 everyday isn't as easy as it seems; or as 'okay' as to many. It took me a week to get used to the idea that my life was going to be behind a computer from 9.30-6.30PM for 5 days a week. Not just that, there were times that I even had to come back from the office around midnight and miss a couple of lunch (not that I'm complaining) but that's the reality, work life is tough. Your 'movements' are somehow rather limited as well and you won't get as much freedom as you might have had in your uni years. You'll actually get the struggle how other people strive to make money for their living everyday.

Besides that, you'd probably enjoy the extra income (provided that the firm pays you for your internship!). You'd also most likely get a clearer view of what you'd want to expect out of yourself and how you'd aspire to be like in a few years time. You might enjoy studying the subject, but you might not enjoy the job scope of it, or using it in practice. Well, an internship is kinda the right time to find out ! Either if you prefer to use the knowledge and skills acquired from your degree into your working life. 

And after all that, you'll have a great time ! (Well, at least I did). Every experience is valuable hence, I don't see a harm as to, what not give it a try ? What is there to lose? Why not ? :)

Is the law really providing justice ?

Throughout our tour in Cappadocia, I met this heartful & loving lady in her 20s who sort of changed my perspective towards prisoners or in general, the law & justice (not that I had the worst perspective towards prisoners before this but it got me to ponder on a few things)

As a law student, you've always been taught that the law is create to accommodate others in providing justice. It changes within time, and adapts to cases, according to the majority of the society. 

But this lady I met earlier; Paripersia (a Mexican-Iranian girl) quoted,

'If the law is meant to bring justice, then all the corrupted politicians (or even all the politicians) in the world would be in prison. And the prisoners, usually in desperation due to poverty or lack of justice, would not even have to be in prisons in the first place'

Most of us would have looked down to prisoners. Discriminate them. Isolate them. But have we ever stopped and ponder, are we not at least a little bit responsible for what happened to them? Isn't the government as well ?

Imagine, if we live in a community, that helped each other. That treats each other equally and with respect. If all the wealth was evenly distributed or at least the gap between the rich and the poor wouldn't be as big as how it is now. If corruption or any crime committed is made to be punished. If the law really provides justice. 

They say the law is created to protect people's rights. To give them safety. Doesn't matter if you are the majority or minority. But we often see the faults in law, in failure to protect the minority's rights. For instance, the French Law does not protect much of Muslims and their rights in wearing headscarves to school.

On the other hand, another fault in the law that I've come to realise as well is that it actually fails to protect the rights of the poor in the world, which holds the majority of the population. Atleast 80% of humanity lives on less than $10 a day. How much of the law has been created to protect these people? To prevent them from breaking the laws in the future? To provide them justice? Should it even be considered as just that the poor is suffering too much while seeing the rich live their lives so easily, only to leave them with more hatred and jealousy?

I understand that some policies are made in order to encounter the problem of poverty, but as much of a role they are in the society, they are mainly guidelines. And equity can only help one so little. 

So the question that has been lingering in my mind is that,

'Is the law really providing justice? Have we been educated on the wrong understanding on what justice really is? Are we, ourselves, even being just to others ?'

How to Start Out with a CV ?

That was definitely me the first time as I was writing my CV and after a while , 

I got myself to this, 

God Bless :) *phew* 

Anyways, hey ! Just to be clear, I am still a first year LLB Law Undergraduate Student, but since everyone including myself have been having problems even starting off a CV, here are some basics in constructing a CV that I reckon would hopefully get you to start filling that empty Microsoft Word screen of yours :) Nevertheless, I am applying for jobs myself as well #prayforeniza. Heheheh. So, lets keep it simple shall we ?

1) There are mainly 2 types of CV 

     i)   Chronological CV - starting off with your most recent years activities 

     ii)  Skills CV - specifying usually 3-5 main skills you have

- You should survey them both, and decide which one is the best for you. Reading other people's CV can roughly give you an idea on how a CV would go about like .

2) Have a Linked-In Profile 

- Don't forget to attach your URL to your CV after you're done completing this !

3) Print back-to-back (Use only 1 paper)

- It is often that those papers of your CV stapled together gets dis-attached accidentally and firms would not even realise it. Next thing you know, one most important paper goes missing and you lost an opportunity just like that

4) Out of ideas ? Look at your Facebook timeline

- Being active on social media does not all go to a waste. If you ever run out of ideas on what to write, just check out your previous activities and update them all in your CV

5) Basic Structure 

i) Personal Profile (2-3 sentences to sell yourself!)

ii) Education

ii) Work Experience

iii) Volunteering

iv) IT Skills

v) Interests

6) Adapt your CV

- Alter and change your CV according to the companies you are applying to. That is definitely essential!

7) Make a Cover Letter

- Why are you applying to the firm ? 

- Sell yourself !

- Don't exaggerate too much or write too long

8) Take your time

-  It is one of the most important documents of your life. Take your time. Never rush in writing your CV 

9) Start Early 

- Jobs are not as easy to get and good jobs usually have datelines, so start early, start now !

10) Check out your Employability Centers and Placement Manager

- All those little details to be checked and last touch of perfection can usually be done here after you have started off with your CV or even when you're done with it.

Ps : I hope this helps as I have been attending some CV Workshops and CV Clinics held by my university. But then again, this is merely just to get you started off with your CV.All the best !

Having a Degree, Being Involved or an All-Rounder is Not Enough,

The things we have always been taught in life is to either be really good in academic or be an all-rounder. Those are the two main routes in life that we were most taught off. But there is more than that,

I began to reflect on myself, that even when (insyAllah) I graduate with a Law Degree, would that mean I'm an intellectual or smart student ? Would I feel that I am a smart student myself ? They say, be the person who you wish to meet, Am I even close to being the person I wish myself to meet?  Would I feel satisfied with what I have achieved in my 3-4 years of university life ? Or am I just another graduate who appears smart based on papers ? 

This post is never to tell you or myself on the solutions to my questions but is definitely good to ponder on to keep track of ourselves. To open up how we look at things and experiences we have gained in life. To think of when we make future decisions.